Extreme turbulence injures Frontier passengers

AVON, Ohio -- Several Frontier Airlines passengers are demanding answers after they say several people were injured because of extreme turbulence.

"Screaming bloody murder, praying, crying, the lady behind us, you could hear her trying to gasp for air," describes passenger Jason Berman of Avon. "She was having an anxiety attack."

The direct flight from Las Vegas to Cleveland made an unscheduled landing in Salt Lake City. Passengers say a woman having a seizure was helped to the plane's floor by flight attendants.

Flyers say the woman appeared to be okay before the rocky flight left Vegas. A pregnant woman was also reported injured by passengers. Nancy Berman says she buried her face into her husband's arms throughout the flight.

"Literally in two minutes [after takeoff] I honestly thought, I'm not being dramatic, we are going to die, that's why I grabbed my phone and texted my boys," explained Berman.

Fox 8 spoke with a commercial airline pilot with ten years experience for perspective on the flight. The pilot did not want to be identified.

"Turbulence is something that's always going to be out there it's always a danger but it's something we try to avoid," explained the pilot. "No pilot is going to make a decision to takeoff to anything that's an unsafe situation."

Several passengers on the Cleveland bound flight repeated the same stories of chaos and all wanted an explanation as to why the flight was not cancelled.

"We should have never been on the flight to begin with they obviously knew there was high winds and we took off anyway."

In a statement sent to FOX 8, Frontier said:

"Flight 1116 operating from Las Vegas to Cleveland last night diverted to Salt Lake City for a passenger medical situation. The plane was on the ground for 90 minutes before departing and continuing on to Cleveland. Our first priority is passenger and crew safety and at no time was that compromised."